


Hank Anderson has a headache

by Leonoracas



Series: Detroit: Short Stories [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hank Anderson & Connor Parent-Child Relationship, Hank Anderson is Bad at Feelings, Self-Doubt, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 05:47:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonoracas/pseuds/Leonoracas
Summary: Hank Anderson wakes up in pain. He should definitely not go to work. He does it anyways. People are dicks, Connor is nowhere to be found and Hank is confronted with emotions.Hank Anderson has a freaking headache.





	Hank Anderson has a headache

**Author's Note:**

> Hello =D  
> I know it's been a while, but this was a piece of work to write. I really hope you guys can make sense of my thoughts.

Hank had a feeling the moment he woke up that this day would not go in his favour. He woke up and felt more dizzy than usual. The need to curse was interrupted by Connor slowly approaching the door to his room.  
“Are you alright, Hank?” Connor said. Even with Hank’s headache bothering him, he couldn’t withhold the smile on his face. It had taken way too long for Connor to start calling him “Hank” but hearing now made the wait worth it. “Fucking, Headache’s bothering me.” He finally grunted out, seeing as Connor hadn’t moved from his spot. “It would be beneficial for you to stay home then, as we are currently caseless I should be able to handle Fowler’s mood alone today.” Before Hank was able to answer Connor, the other had already left from his place at the door and got ready without Hank. “So, what? I’ll just stay at home?” He shouted after the android. 

He heard the entrance door opening. “Affirmative, please rest and I’ll be back soon.” The noise of the door closing made Hank realise that Connor had left him alone.  
“Androids” He sighed, as he got up to get some medicine before going back to sleep. He went to the bathroom to get the first aid kit, but he was unable to find painkillers. This time, he coursed loudly. It also explained why Connor had left so fast, as he usually brought whatever medication Hank might need when he felt ill. He walked towards the couch, sat himself down and started to pet Sumo who was sleeping next to the couch. “Guess, it is just us today, buddy.” With the pain still lingering, he wasn’t able to relax again. He felt restless. Which was why he decided that he probably should go to a pharmacy close by to get new painkillers. 

That was another thing, Connor usually did the shopping. It was something Hank had disliked at first, but according to Connor it was a pastime that he really enjoys. Hank had the suspicion that Connor only liked grocery shopping to make sure that Hank was healthy. Additionally, it was probably helping that Connor could also take Sumo for a walk every time he went shopping. Hank remembers fondly the one day where they had gone altogether and had ended up in a dog park. It had been nearly impossible to get Connor to leave. He had tried to pet every dog in close proximity and ended up dirtier than Sumo afterwards, which lead to Hank ordering Connor to take a shower. Connor had pouted all evening and had wanted to go back to the park the next day before Hank had to remind him that they were supposed to work the next day. This had happened weeks ago, but it still made Hank smile. He realised suddenly that he was used to Connor’s presence and the curiosity that came with it. He reached his usual go-to pharmacy and entered the store. Due to the current revisions of the android acts it was only a human clerk at work, who took the time to greet him. 

“Hello Mr. Anderson! Haven’t seen you here in a while.” Hank gave him a nod before simply asking. “Pretty sre you’ve still got some painkillers stacked somewhere, right?”  
“Sure, we should have some.” The clerk turned and went towards the back of the room to get Hank’s brand of painkillers. 

While the pain was still manageable, Hank couldn’t wait to finally get those pills. If everything would move fast he might still end up going to the DPD. They usually had enough work at the DPD so that Hank and Connor never really managed to get a day off. Connor might do most of the work faster than Hank, but Hank had the experience a cop needs to make certain calls. It wasn’t that Hank was too worried about Connor, but the android had the tendency to run into danger during their fieldwork.

The clerk returned bringing Hank’s pills. Hank paid for them and turned to leave when the clerk addressed him again. “Greetings to Connor, he usually comes by with your dog during their walks... He’s a good kid.”

Hank shrugged. “Yeah, he’s quite the ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” and left the pharmacy with the pills in his bag.  
“Weird.” Hank had never thought that Connor was that well liked by the clerks already, but he guessed that nobody could dislike the android for long. Dry-Swallowing a pill he decided that he could still show up at the precinct and maybe he’d be able to still get some work done today. 

A few hours later, Hank really regretted his earlier decision. While he hadn’t been as late as he had been in the past, he had still missed an incoming call about a shady noise complaint that seemed to be connected with an android-parts smuggling ring. Therefore, Hank was now stuck filling in the paperwork that Fowler handed to him, while Connor had been teamed up with another Lieutenant, since Hank was thought to be sick, to investigate the call. Hank had placed the painkillers on his desk, but it wasn’t his constant headache keeping him unfocused. Hank felt uneasy, knowing that Connor was currently out there without him. He wasn’t worried, though, he really wasn’t. 

“Stop starring at the fucking door, Anderson. It... I mean... He won’t show up any faster just because you’re focusing on the door.” Reed called out, after he came back from the break room.  
After what had happened with Connor’s voice emulation program, Reed had stopped openly antagonising Connor. Hank wouldn’t call them friends, or even colleagues, but there seemed to be at least some sort of respect forming between them. This still did not calm Hank’s nerves. He knew all too well that Connor can be a handful if you’re not used to his antics and as far as Hank knew, lieutenant Dechart had never worked with Connor before. 

His pounding head, the fact that his neighbourhood starts to recognise Connor as a regular as well as his concerns about the noise complaint didn’t help his focus at all. He shot the door another glance.  
He tried to focus on his paperwork. He looked up to check the door. Nothing had changed. He sighed and turned back to his paperwork. The station network was still down, so the computers were only decoration. Hank turned the page and while he did that, he shot the door another glance. There was still nothing to see.

Hank wasn’t worried.  
Connor had approximately left four hours ago, just one hour before Hank had got to the station. Connor would be fine. Lieutenant Dechart was a pretty decent cop. There was nothing to worry about. It wasn’t like this was Connor’s first rodeo doing fieldwork and Hank was just overthinking this situation due to his still ongoing headache. He shot another nasty look to the station door. 

This was when Hank realised that today was really not going to be his day. The mess of paperwork that he had in front of him never seemed to decrease and Connor still hadn’t shown up with Lieutenant Dechart. If Gavin is the one talking reason, then something really went wrong. He turned his head away from the door and focused on Connor’s desk. The desk itself was still rather bare, but he knew that Connor was working to get his nameplate officially approved. While Fowler himself didn’t mind Connor at the DPD, there were still political issues concerning android jobs. Therefore, Connor was in a peculiar situation. Hank just hoped that this would be over soon, as he had known from Connor that several other androids were still looking for jobs. He sighed and before he could do anything about it, turned back to face the door. 

There was a noise that brought him back to reality and it was a cup of coffee placed on his desk. It was Chris, who’d brought him the coffee and placed himself across Hank, so that he couldn’t see the door anymore.  
“Hank, you look pale and in pain. Connor said you’re sick, why’d you even show up?” Hank said nothing. “Listen, Connor’s fine. I get it. You worry about your kid, but...”

“I’m not worried.” Hank said, “And he’s not my kid. He’s my partner here at the DPD, but that doesn’t make him MY kid.” Hank sighed again. He knew people were wondering about Connor’s connection to him, as he was currently living in Hank’s house. Connor lived in Hank’s house and usually looked after Sumo or went grocery shopping. Connor lived in Hank’s house going through stages of emotions that were unknown to the android and had Hank try and explain them to him.  
Alright, maybe he did get used to Connor’s presence at his home, but that didn’t mean that Connor was his responsibility or that he was worried. He moved slightly, so that Chris wasn’t blocking the view to the door. Chris moved accordingly and blocked Hank’s view once more. “For someone not worried, you’re looking at this door way too often.”  
“I’m not worried. I’m pissed. As my partner, Connor could have called me in instead of simply vanishing with Dechart.”

Chris shook his head. “You’re impossible. Take your meds, go home. Stop looking at this door, they’re not going to show up like th...”  
Someone entered through the door. It was Dechart, but he was alone. Connor was nowhere to be seen.  
In a sudden movement, Chris found himself only facing Hank’s desk, while Hank was already bumping into Dechart.  
“Lieutenant Anderson? I didn’t think you’d be here, are you alright?” Dechart said after he recovered from the sudden appearance. Hank didn’t bother for pleasantries. “Don’t blab. What the hell happened? Where is Connor?” Hank tried to gather information as fast as possible, but there was nothing that could indicate why Connor wasn’t with the other Lieutenant. Dechart surprised by Hank’s intensity took a step backwards. “I have to report to Fowler, please, let me through.”  
“Wrong answer, where the hell is Connor?”  
Dechart tried to move away, but Hank didn’t let go. The pain in his head nearly forgotten now.  
“Noise complaint turned out to be more than we thought. We ended up interrupting an ongoing red ice smuggling ring.” Before Hank could ask, Dechart added. “Connor is fine. He told me that his systems were functional and that he had to leave. So I let him go.” There was a pause. “Am I allowed to report to my official boss now? It is kind of important” Hank let the other go and moved aside. Hank didn’t move any further. Connor always hid his injuries, not deeming them important.... Dechart wouldn’t know to check. Connor might be injured. Why hadn’t he shown up at the station if he was fine? It wasn’t even 3:30pm and Hank considered leaving again to go look for Connor. What if an android hate group took advantage on a damaged Connor? What if Connor was in pain but hiding somewhere trying to self-repair but failing? 

Hank had to find Connor.

Hank went back to his desk to grab his jacket and the car keys, so that he could go looking for Connor when he heard one of the more annoying coworkers talk way too loudly with Detective Reed, who was looking more and more uncomfortable with the situation. 

“Did you see this shit? Anderson fucking worries about a piece of plastic? I mean, I get that he needed a replacement for his dead son, but that boy toy piece is clearly not worth it.” 

Hank dropped the car keys. His hands turning into fists and rage was in building up, but before he could do anything, there was a punch and Reed stood there holding his knuckles. “Leave Anderson, I’ll bring this up to Fowler, get your shit done.” Before he turned to his co-worker lying on the ground “The fuck is wrong with you?” and grabbed the other towards Fowler’s office. 

Slowly, Hank moved to get the fallen keys. He needed to find Connor. He also really needed a drink. He left the DPD and with his thoughts circling and his headache still pounding made his way to Jimmy’s Bar.

His previous concern slowly turned into a much the need to drown his thoughts in alcohol. Connor would be fine. Right?

Hank felt like the biggest asshole in history as he finally entered the bar. As he sat down and ordered the usual whiskey, he wondered, why he was even doing this. He hadn’t visited this place in a while since Connor was trying to minimise Hank’s drinking habit. Sure enough, with Connor and Sumo he hadn’t had the need to get heavily drunk in months. Which made him feel even worse.  
Not only was he planning on getting blackout drunk, but he was also ignoring the possibility that Connor was dying somewhere due to a hidden injury. He was definitely the worst piece of shit at this bar. He saw other people giving him a weird side-eye, but they didn’t matter. The only thing he needed was his whiskey. Somewhere in his mind, there was a voice that suspiciously sounded like Connor and told him that he should not drink while on medication.  
He drank. 

He recognised a few other people from the bar, that either never left Detroit or came back after politicians were called out for their overreactions. Hank was pretty sure that more androids were hurt during any protest than humans, as the androids have been protesting peacefully from the beginning due to Markus.  
Humans didn’t care. Unless until the media had called out those politicians and made them work on integration of androids in society as well as the re-integration of people to Detroit. Hank felt that sitting here reminded him of the old days. There was a baseball game playing in the background and he was nursing his whiskey. The only thing that was missing for the full immersion of the past, he guessed, was the self-hate and self-pity. Those thoughts were replaced by two names that were currently circling in his mind. 

Cole and Connor. 

Hank knew that he couldn’t compare his son to Connor. Cole had been a person, an individual that was robbed of his chance to grow and learn about the world around him, while Connor was Connor. Connor was an android, suddenly thrown into the world with the ability to decide, but also displaying childlike naivety and curiosity. 

Did he unconsciously try to fill the whole that Cole left with Connor? It seemed that that was what some assholes of the DPD were thinking. He had been too surprised by the statement and the thought of having replaced Cole hurt him more than he thought... but he couldn’t really disagree.  
Hadn’t he taken Connor in, offered him a place to stay and advice if needed, due to Connor’s insecurity concerning his own humanity? 

Hank took another sip of his drink. Even if he did, he already proofed to be a shitty father figure.  
He hadn’t been able to face Cole in years and he hadn’t checked his grave in a while either, as he had been trying to kill himself a bit more by day. Now, with Connor somewhere, possibly even injured, he had chosen the drink instead of checking on him. Choosing his self-doubt over Connor.  
Hank sighed. He shouldn’t have let his emotions get the better of him. He should have called Connor to at least make sure that the other was fine instead of getting this drink. At least, Hank could make it up now as he went to his pocket to grab his phone... only to realise that it wasn’t in his pocket. 

“Fuck”, he probably left it at the DPD again, not unusual, but very inconvenient. He used to have his phone on him all the time until that one call changed his world. After Cole had been transferred to the hospital and everyone was trying to find a doctor and failed, Hank had stopped keeping his phone with him all the times. 

It was Connor who usually reminded him to keep his phone close by in case of emergencies. Hank hated Connor’s constant worrying, but right now it just made him feel worse. What was he even doing here? His headache was still there, reminding him that he should have never left his home in the first place. 

Why hadn’t he checked on Connor as soon as Dechart had returned without him? Why had Connor decided not to return to the station? Connor was supposed to talk to him and make sure that he wasn’t injured. Hank didn’t want to think of all the times Connor had rushed into danger without a care for himself. Conner was supposed to stay safe. He had to make sure that Connor was safe. 

 

Hank realised all of a sudden, that he had missed the last 15 minutes of the game. He wasn’t even sure who was playing. His mind turned those two names around again and again.

Cole and Connor.  
Conner and Cole.

The asshole from the DPD could eat a fucking dick. Cole was still a sore spot for Hank and to imply that Connor would even compare to what he had felt for Cole was unjust. Cole was his son. Cole was his family. Family he had lost in one fast movement and there was nothing to do. He had tried so hard to be there for Cole, but Cole left him. 

Connor couldn’t leave him. He couldn’t loose another.

His thoughts were interrupted by the barkeep talking to another drunk sod.  
“... and those freaking machines still fight for rights! Like, should I give my own freaking toaster rights too now? America can’t be serious. Makes me angry just to think about it.” The guy listening to the barkeep was nodding along, with the occasional “right, mate.” thrown in. Hank hadn’t moved any closer, realising that some other people that were seated close to the barkeep seemed to share Jimmys’ opinion, but he was still listening in. “This is why we like you Jimmy, still keeping those machines away from us. Those shit pieces of plastic try to get in everywhere now – AND I’ve lost my own freaking property too in this revolution. Still trying to sue CyberLife for their faulty machines, but they haven’t called back so far.” There was another small uproar in that circle until Jimmy, the barkeep, turned to Hank and tried to wave him over. “Wasn’t there this piece of plastic bothering you recently until it went crazy? But I guess, at least you’re happy that you’re not bothered by it anymore.” Jimmy turned back to the guests, not seeing Hank’s face slowly turning angry.  
“My friend was bothered by a piece of plastic just a few months back! The thing just went inside, bothering us upstanding, superior folk and then trying to be all “buddy-buddy” by buying this fellow a drink.” Another drunkard interrupted shouting “should have shot the fucking thing the moment it showed up!“ Which was why that drunkard was the one that got punched by Hank Anderson. 

Hank was rubbing his knuckles, still pissed at the blatant disrespect towards all androids and, specifically Connor, as he threw all of them a very angry and nasty look. “Now you listen REAL hard, lads. Your so called “piece of plastic” has a name and is a better person than any of you. You all sit here and drink yourself to death, blaming androids for your plights, but guess what. You’re all just pathetic pieces of shit.”

Hank felt like punching them again, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he turned to Jim. “Listen Jim, I came here today to get my mind of things and enjoy a good game of baseball. Never thought that I had to live with your prejudice shit. I get it. Hating androids is easy, did it myself for a while, but if you say one word against Connor ever again, you’ll have to suffer through the consequences.”

He shoved his drink aside. “I think I’m done.”  
The guy that Hank punched was smiling a crooked smile. “Why’d you care about those tin cans? Do you have no other human that can stand to be around you, so you turn to machines instead? Poor sod.” Another guy, Hank recognised him as the asshole from the DPD was smirking too. “Clearly a delusional and suicidal cop can’t talk about ethics in a bar he also frequently visits.”. Hank’s resolve to not start a bar fight was slowly dissolving. “Hit a nerve today, didn’t I?” The asshole continued. “What a horrible parent you must be, I should be surprised that PLASTIC prick had been able to function at all...”

“You’ve heard me, Fuckface. Leave Connor out of this.”, Hank said, but before Hank could start the fight, the barkeeper intervened. “Listen Hank, I think it’s time for you to leave. You’ve been disrupting my costumers for long enough.”. Hank was itching to start a brawl, but there was something holding him back.  
He was reminded of the androids that were protesting peacefully and Markus and Connor, who were always trying to keep the casualties low. He sighed. 

“You guys are in for a hard wake-up call. Androids show more humanity than most of you pricks.”. He stood up and left the bar, ignoring the following. He finally understood where he had to go. 

Hank had felt guilty for not realising earlier where Connor would have gone after the case. He got to his destination without any additional trouble and as he saw the lights on in his house, he couldn’t stop the sift smile that appeared on his face. Connor had gone home.  
He opened the door and expected to find Connor on the couch or in a chair, probably waiting for him to arrive, but that wasn’t the case. 

Connor was lying on the ground with Sumo seemingly sleeping comfortably on him. He was still petting Sumo with care as he turned to face Hank.  
“Connor?”  
There was a pause in petting as Connor shifted a bit and moving Sumo with him. “Hank? I thought you’d be home, which was why I hadn’t returned to the station.” There was another pause. “I did not anticipate your stubbornness and that you might try to leave for work anyways.”  
Why did Hank feel like Connor was trying to scold him for leaving? Hank settled for the next important thing. “Dechart said you were fine, are you alright?”

Connor nodded. “There was nothing damaged in a way that I couldn’t have self-repaired. I am fine. I also brought you some pills from the pharmacy as we are currently out of stock.”

Hank wanted to inform Connor that he had gone there himself, before he realised that he had left the pills with his phone at the DPD. He sighed again. “Thank you, Connor. You know you don’t have to do that.”  
Connor moved again, this time carefully moving Sumo off him, before he stood up to face Hank. “I know. It was my decision to do those things. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright.” Connor was tilting his head, as if unsure if he had overstepped.  
“It’s fine Connor. I was worried and I made mistakes.... I’m sorry for today. I got riled up at work and made bad decisions.”  
“All good, Hank.”

“You’re important to me Connor. Please take care of yourself.”  
“I will.”

Hank sat on the couch and wanted to tell Connor about what happened, about his troubling emotions and why he had done what he had done, but another spike of pain distracted him. 

“Can I take one of those pills you got from the pharmacy?”  
“Hank, I can’t let you do that. According to my scans you’ve already taken several pills in combination with alcohol. You have to sober up first. Your safety is important.”

Well shit.  
Connor sat next to Hank, and turned on the TV, with the noise on silent. The game was still playing. The silence in the room wasn’t awkward. Hank felt at home with Connor, even though, he wished for one of those damn pills. 

His thoughts returned once more to his earlier dilemma. Connor and Cole.  
He would never want to replace Cole with Connor.... but neither would he want to replace Connor with Cole. 

They were different. They had to be, but Hank loved both of them. He might not be the best father, but he still loved both of his sons.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out with Hank at the bar simply thinking before I added everything before and after that scene. Definitely not done with my Dad!Hank and Son!Connor idea, but it is a start.


End file.
